Validation Institute Certifies Spring Health as the First and Only Comprehensive Mental Health Solution to Show Net Savings for Customers

The largest study of its kind conclusively demonstrates that Spring Health more than pays for itself, lowering total health plan spend by $2,430 per participant in the first six months of engagement.

Validation Institute certifies Spring Health as the first and only comprehensive mental health solution to show net savings for customers

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    We are thrilled to announce external validation showing that our customers have realized a significant reduction in overall workplace and healthcare claims costs, including a 2.2x return on investment in health plan spend alone.

    Spring Health is now the first and only comprehensive mental health solution to obtain certification from the Validation Institute, an independent and objective third-party organization dedicated to improving the quality and cost of healthcare. After a thorough review of Spring Health’s results and research, Validation Institute’s health economics experts certified that Spring Health customers lowered total health plan spend by $2,430 per participant within the first six months of engagement.

    "While some of our peers may demonstrate return on investment excluding the price of their services, Spring Health is the first and only solution that is able to definitively say we deliver a significant return on investment for our customers even after accounting for the costs of our care,” says April Koh, co-founder and CEO of Spring Health.

    “This is an important distinction that sets us apart. The results of this large-scale study, certified by the Validation Institute, show that we are setting the bar for world-class clinical and financial outcomes."

    Key findings certified by the Validation Institute include:

    • Spring Health is the first and only comprehensive mental health solution to achieve a proven net-positive return on investment. Access to high-quality mental health providers more than paid for itself. For every $1.00 invested in Spring Health, customers saved $2.20 on their health plan spend. Those savings increase to almost $4.10 when accounting for reduced absenteeism and turnover.
    • The largest savings were driven by reductions in physical health spending, especially from participants with high-cost, chronic medical conditions. Notably, Spring Health’s program drove the highest savings for those with chronic conditions. Spring Health provided $5,226 savings for those with diabetes and $5,040 for those with hypertension. It also delivered $6,930 savings for patients who had cancer.
    • Improvement in employee mental health drove significant value for both self-funded and fully insured customers. In as little as six months, turnover was reduced by 22% and absenteeism by 12% among employees participating in the program, providing workplace savings of $1.90 for every $1.00 invested. These findings underscore that the program is mutually beneficial for members and customers alike.

    These results are based on a large-scale retrospective study examining healthcare and workplace costs for 10,716 health plan members eligible between November 1, 2019 and September 30, 2022. For the healthcare claims and retention analysis, participants using the Spring Health benefit were matched to the control group on multiple demographic variables (age, gender, medical risk score, mental health diagnosis, and date of diagnosis) to ensure that groups were similar. Healthcare utilization and related costs were quantified using medical claims. Additionally, productivity costs were quantified using a subset of employees providing productivity data.

    “At Validation Institute, we have advocated for years to improve the quality and cost of medical care. Spring Health, with its commitment to using data to make mental healthcare work better for more people, is exactly the type of solution we wanted to be able to put to the test,” says Benny DiCecca, CEO of Validation Institute.

    “Our comprehensive review found that Spring Health's commitment to data-driven mental healthcare is paying off for the employers and health plans who invest in the well-being of their populations.”

    Spring Health’s mission is to eliminate every barrier to mental health—whether that’s through digital support, meditation exercises, coaching, therapy, medication, or other types of care. This certification from Validation Institute is further demonstration of Spring Health's approach to improving mental healthcare with rigorously verified, industry-leading clinical and financial outcomes.

    Get your copy of the full report.

    About Validation Institute

    Validation Institute is an independent, objective, 3rd party organization on a mission to improve the quality and cost of healthcare. Based in Needham, MA, the organization is made up of a network of health benefits purchasers, health benefits advisors, and healthcare solution providers focused on delivering better health value and stronger outcomes than conventional healthcare.

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